Four suspects arrested over feces-flinging attack

By Rich Chang / Staff reporter

Hsiao Yu-jen, left, and Chang Che-chih leave the Nangang police precinct in Taipei yesterday after being questioned in connection with a feces-flinging attack against singer Jam Hsiao on Monday last week.

Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times

Taipei police yesterday said they had arrested four people suspected of involvement in a feces-flinging attack against singer Jam Hsiao (蕭敬騰) last week, adding that they were now looking for the “mastermind” behind the attack.

Police said they arrested Tseng Yi-cheng (曾翊誠) and Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) on Friday night. The pair reportedly told police that they had been directed by Chang Che-chih (張哲誌), and Hsiao Yu-jen (蕭毓仁), the man who allegedly carried out the attack.

Police said after contacting the pair and their families, Chang and Hsiao Yu-jen went to the Taipei Police Department on Saturday night.

According to police, Chang, an alleged member of the Celestial Way (天道盟) gang, shouldered all responsibility, saying he directed the incident and had hired Hsiao Yu-jen to throw the feces.

Chang denied there was another “mastermind” involved, police said.

They said Chang claimed he paid Hsiao NT$43,000 and Chen NT$8,000 for the attack, but he was not able to give a clear reason for the assault.

Police said they had released the four, and are looking for others who might have been involved in the incident because Chang made a telephone call to an alleged gangster right after the incident.

The officers said a branch of Celestial Way was broken up six years ago, when 26 alleged members were arrested, including Chang.

On Monday last week, two people on a scooter hurled excrement into Jam Hsiao’s car as he got into it outside his home to go to work. Hsiao was not hit, but his driver and other passengers were not so lucky. The driver also sustained injuries when he attempted to stop the poo-slingers.

The singer said after the incident that he did not have any financial or work-related problems that might have led to the incident, but that some of his colleagues had received threatening telephone calls and letters over the past three months.